Online sports betting deal between Seminole Tribe, Florida faces new challenge
More than a year after the Seminole Tribe started offering online sports betting, a new lawsuit alleges that voter approval was needed to allow such gambling. Protect the Constitution LLC filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Leon County circuit court, alleging a state deal that allowed online sports betting violates a 2018 constitutional amendment that required voter approval of “casino gambling.” Gov. Ron DeSantis reached the deal, known as a compact, with the Seminole Tribe in 2021. [Source: News Service of Florida]
Business Beat - Week of April 25th
Get top news-to-know with Florida Trend's headline-focused video newsbrief, hosted by digital content specialist Aimée Alexander.
Florida libraries uncertain about future services amidst IMLS funding cuts
Local Libraries help ensure Internet access, access to information, and all-age programs for people in the community. In 2023-2024, Florida received $7.9 million in funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Service. Patrick Sweeney is the Political Director of EveryLibrary, an organization that seeks to ensure access and funding to libraries across America. “Contrary to what the media reports, library use is up,” Sweeney told WMNF. “I think that this is going to be very worrying for the ability to access information.” [Source: WMNF]
10 Florida malls, shopping centers on chopping block as owner plans sale of all properties
Washington Prime Group, the owner of about 70 malls around the United States, including 10 in Florida, is selling its remaining malls and shopping centers. Mall owner Washington Prime Group Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2021, citing the COVID-19 pandemic for making the move necessary. The company, which spun off from the nation's largest mall operator, Simon Property Group in 2014, had 102 shopping centers at the time. [Source: Gainesville Sun]
Florida beaches 2 of only 3 in U.S. named among best in world
Boca Raton and Delray Beach were two of only three cities in the United States to earn awards for having some of the best beaches in the world, according to an international organization. The Blue Flag Beach Award is given to beaches that comply with “stringent environmental, educational, safety and access-related criteria annually,” according to the Blue Flag website. Blue Flag is presided over by the Foundation for Environmental Education. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Port Canaveral breaks records for cruise passengers, revenue, with record ship count
A record-shattering month for cruising at Port Canaveral helped boost revenue to levels that impressed even the commissioners who govern over the port. "Where does this end?" Canaveral Port Authority Chairman Wayne Justice asked during the April 23 commission meeting, as he heard the record numbers. Port Canaveral CEO John Murray implied that it doesn't end, noting that "bigger ships are coming" to the port in the future.
› Miami-based startup using AI to take the busywork out of property management
RFx Suite is a Miami-based startup that’s bringing procurement tools powered by AI to small and midsize property managers. RFx Suite has already secured some major wins for early clients. For one in particular, over 45 days, they freed up a day’s worth of admin time per project, cut procurement cycle times by 36%, and negotiated $17,000 in savings.
› St. Petersburg to explore demolishing Tampa Bay Rowdies stadium
Mayor Ken Welch’s administration has unveiled a proposal to remake the city’s downtown waterfront that includes demolishing Al Lang Stadium. Under a conceptual plan presented to City Council members on Thursday, Al Lang would be turned into an outdoor amphitheater.
› SpaceX proposes increase in rocket launches from Cape Canaveral and new landing zone
Florida's spaceport is about to get even busier with SpaceX now proposing not just an increase in launches from Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 40, but a brand new booster landing site, too. This means not just more launches, but more sonic booms as well. SpaceX launches have become seemingly routine for those in Cape Canaveral as the Space Coast lives up to its name. Last year, the Space Coast set a new record of 93 launches.
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› Planner: Charlotte County needs shopping centers, more industrial land
Charlotte County’s population increased 11% during a 20-month span from June 2023 to February 2025. Professional planner David Farmer, CEO of county-contracted Metro Forecasting Models, offered solutions to county commissioners April 22 about how to manage the county’s historic growth that has ranged from 1.3% to 2.8% annually since 1990.
› Bank of America gifts $250,000 to Brevard Zoo for future aquarium at Port Canaveral
Bank of America East Central Florida has donated $250,000 to the East Coast Zoological Foundation, which owns and operates Brevard Zoo, to build the future Bowen Aquarium and Conservation Center at Port Canaveral. Bank of America's donation supports the zoo's $100 million community fundraising effort to build the aquarium, expected to break ground this year, with an anticipated opening in 2027.
› Jacksonville's Alhambra named one of 10 best in U.S. list of dinner theaters
For more than a half century, Jacksonville’s Alhambra Theatre & Dining has drawn crowds to its Beach Boulevard theater to see Hollywood celebrities and talented local actors sing and dance across the stage to some of theater’s biggest hits. In fact, the theater bills itself as the nation’s oldest continuously operated dinner theater.
› Moffitt Cancer Center's Pasco campus meets pair of milestones
Tampa-based Moffitt Cancer Center invited the public to mark two milestones on its Speros campus in Pasco County on Tuesday. The topping out of the campus’s first building, the Moffitt Discovery & Innovation Center for research, and the installation of the cyclotron that will power the region’s first proton therapy system are the first landmarks since the project broke ground in January 2023.